Part of agreement between Apple and HTC to become public

A judge in California has ruled that major details surrounding the Apple-HTC settlement will be publicly available. The pricing and royalty rates will remain confidential, but the patents that were part of the settlement will be open to the public. Previously, Samsung’s lawyers were given access to the list of patents in this settlement as part of their preparations for a hearing that will determine the final details of Apple’s legal victory over Samsung in August. Apple had sought to keep the list of patents confidential, but Judge Lucy Koh saw no compelling reason to keep these details from the public. CNET reports:

In an ruling tonight, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh said that while details of pricing and royalty rates for patents from both companies should be kept under wraps from public view, the same does not hold true for the rest of the agreement.

Some of the patents in question include methods and behaviors of scrolling and zooming, which Apple may license, while others are so-called “untouchables”, unique user experience patents, which Apple rarely shares with other companies. Samsung may hope that if Apple did indeed reach an agreement with HTC on these untouchable patents in particular, that they can avoid an injunction. Apple and Samsung’s hearing is scheduled for this Thursday, December 6.